Iraq to expand Majnun oil field, survey new blocs in Basra and offshore
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq is seeking to increase production at its Majnun oil field by nearly 50 percent by the year 2021, signing a new contract with two public companies. It also inked a deal with a Chinese oil company for exploration.
Iraqi Drilling Company and Basra Oil Company will drill 40 wells at Basra’s Majnun oil field. They signed the contract on Thursday in the presence of Minister of Oil Thamir al-Ghadhban.
“Ghadhban reiterated the keenness of the ministry to speed up working to develop the Majnun oil field through national efforts and increase the rates of production based on future plans,” the ministry stated in a readout.
Through supporting national companies and using Iraqi capabilities, they will be able to develop Majnun oil field and increase production in “record time and at lower costs,” said the minister.
The general manager of Basra Oil Company, Ihsan Abdujabar, said their plan is to increase production to 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2021. The field currently produces 240,000 bpd.
Bassim Mohammed Khidhair, head of the Iraqi Drilling Company, is confident they are up to the task, saying they have the necessary equipment and experienced employees, and have received many ISO quality assurance certificates.
On the same day, the oil minister oversaw the signing of a second deal – one between Iraq’s Oil Exploration Company and China’s CNOOC to conduct seismic surveys of two blocs. One is in Basra’s port town of al-Faw and the second is offshore in the Persian Gulf.
The ministry said the two blocs are “promising.”
The head of the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company, Nashwan Mohammed Nouri, said they will survey al-Faw. And CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) will survey the bloc in the Gulf.
Iraq is currently producing about 3.5 million barrels per day. It has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, but it’s potential to produce millions more has been stalled by successive crises and events that have hampered investment in the oil sector since the 1991 embargo.